Pure Science

Smithsonian Magazine

Recent counts of the Wadden Sea’s adult harbor seal population have revealed a surprising trend of decline, prompting a consortium of researchers to investigate whether the animals are dying off, relocating or experiencing something else...

Smithsonian Magazine

Recent discoveries about an alvarezsaur called Manipulonyx have drawn renewed attention to this group of bird-like, clawed creatures and the mysteries around their anatomy and behavior

Smithsonian Magazine

Scientists undertook the first comprehensive assessment of how often snakes eat their own, uncovering reports of the behavior in more than 200 species

Smithsonian Magazine

Synthetic pheromones may be a promising tool in attracting and culling troublesome crown-of-thorns starfish, which rapidly eat large amounts of coral on the Great Barrier Reef

Smithsonian Magazine

The animals' extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

Smithsonian Magazine

A new decade-long study tracked 37 penguin colonies and found that the birds are breeding earlier. The shift marks one way among many that climate change is transforming life at the bottom of the world

Smithsonian Magazine

Nature’s wintry accessory, icicles help beautify snowy landscapes

Smithsonian Magazine

The strategy, known as synthetic biology, is gaining momentum globally as a conservation tool and human health solution, despite attracting some critics

Smithsonian Magazine

Neuroscientists are tracking the brain activity that underlies a cognitive breakthrough and unraveling how it might boost memory

Smithsonian Magazine

As increased industrial activity puts fragile deep-sea ecosystems at risk, one artist is raising awareness about imperiled corals through scientific model making

Smithsonian Magazine

These underground rodents are the first mammals found to actively choose air with lower-than-normal oxygen levels. Their remarkable ability to survive these conditions could offer a key model for researchers studying new treatments for...

Smithsonian Magazine

A recent study suggests that the large mammals may seek out parts of bananas and papayas when they’re suffering from gut parasites, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge

Smithsonian Magazine

Inexpensive to raise and insatiably hungry for trash, black soldier fly larvae are already on the menu for livestock, pets and, maybe soon, people

Smithsonian Magazine

Scheduled to launch in early 2026, NASA's Artemis 2 is part of the bold 21st-century vision for returning astronauts to the lunar surface

Smithsonian Magazine

These "total monsters of fishes" are extinct today, though new clues about their lives come from CT scans and their closest living relatives: the big-eyed ratfish of the deep sea

Smithsonian Magazine

Some residents along the Gulf Coast are creating habitat for the endangered birds on their properties, but development, saltwater intrusion and bird flu are putting pressure on the species' recovery

Smithsonian Magazine

A visit to the Falkland Islands, where the fearless seabirds navigate the rugged topography with tenacious spunk, shows the new challenges they face

Smithsonian Magazine

Three experts share the science behind taking a dip in cold water—and offer safety tips that any potential plungers should bear in mind

Smithsonian Magazine

The upcoming year will offer a blood-red moon, spectacular meteor showers and the first glimpse of the sun’s corona since April 2024

Smithsonian Magazine

With studies of fossilized bones, gut contents, eggshells and more, paleontologists revealed new and captivating details about the enormous reptiles that once roamed the Earth

Smithsonian Magazine

All year long, these moments captivated the public, demonstrated dangerous trends, and pushed research and innovation forward

Smithsonian Magazine

David Rankin of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spends nights scanning the solar system for potentially catastrophic space rocks. Here’s what he has to say about that “high consequence” work, an interstellar comet and living with...

Smithsonian Magazine

A wave of fresh science is challenging a century-old treatment and offering hope to the people snakebites harm most—often far from hospitals and help

Smithsonian Magazine

You can see the large white seabirds dancing, preening, feeding and raising young—though the live feed might show a dark side of island living, too, with potential predation from invasive mice

Smithsonian Magazine

For the first time, scientists have cryopreserved and revived the larvae of a sea star species. The breakthrough, made with the giant pink star, gives hope the technique could be repeated to save the imperiled predator

Smithsonian Magazine

When Illinois landowners noticed tree deaths and diseases on their properties ramp up in 2017, they suspected industrial agriculture. A survey found herbicides in 90 percent of tree tissues

Smithsonian Magazine

Our planet’s magnetosphere has seen dramatic shifts across its history—even total reversals—but this recent wrinkle doesn’t pose a threat to life

Smithsonian Magazine

Chunks of satellites and pieces of debris falling from space are causing trouble down here on Earth

Smithsonian Magazine

Critics argue the satellites, billed as a way to harness solar energy at night, could hamper sky observations and may pose a threat to human and animal health

Smithsonian Magazine

From “experimental archaeology” to the mysterious appeal of exploration, the wide-ranging subjects detailed in these titles captivated Smithsonian magazine’s science contributors this year

Smithsonian Magazine

People infected with HIV must take antiretroviral drugs for life. But engineered antibodies appeared to suppress the virus for certain participants in recent trials in Africa and Europe

Smithsonian Magazine

From interactive diagrams to A.I. assistants, virtual tools are beginning to supplant physical dissections in some classrooms

Smithsonian Magazine

Wondrous kelp beds harbor a complex ecosystem that’s teeming with life, cleaning the water and the atmosphere, and bringing new hope for the future

Smithsonian Magazine

Neuroscientists studying the shifts between sleep and awareness are finding many liminal states, which could help explain the disorders that can result when sleep transitions go wrong

Smithsonian Magazine

Best Friends Animal Society has a sprawling campus in the canyons of Utah, but its influence has grown to reach almost every shelter in the country

Smithsonian Magazine

Two Australopithecus fossils named Lucy and Selam made a rare trip out of Ethiopia for a 60-day display at the National Museum in Prague

Smithsonian Magazine

Studying the ways that magenta and yellow flowers intermingle paints a vibrant picture of how the plants exchange genetic information—and what keeps each color variety unique

Smithsonian Magazine

Researchers are investigating a sudden spike in pregnancies in one black-and-white ruffed lemur population that might signal environmental stress to the mammals

Smithsonian Magazine

Once called “America’s last jaguar,” the solitary male wandered across the southern border in 2011 and became the centerpiece of a campaign to protect habitat in the Santa Rita Mountains

Smithsonian Magazine

Discarded nets, lines and traps are a hazard to marine life and ecosystems around the world, but pioneering programs are tackling the problem creatively through education, prevention, ocean cleanups and recycling

Smithsonian Magazine

Critters consuming species that harbor deadly toxins have evolved a suite of clever strategies to keep out of harm’s way. Scientists are starting to unravel how these protections work on the molecular level

Smithsonian Magazine

Twin brothers in the United Kingdom grew the biggest pumpkin ever documented, tipping the scales at 2,819.3 pounds

Smithsonian Magazine

An enzyme in the blue blood has been key to testing vaccines since the 1980s, raising concerns for the crabs’ population. But regulatory approval and new data are signaling the tide may be turning

Smithsonian Magazine

Researchers are finally able to catch a glimpse of the life filling the skies, and they want to protect it

Smithsonian Magazine

The British adventurer has crossed the Atlantic solo in a plane and a boat. Now he reads tree leaves, puddles and moss to get his bearings

Smithsonian Magazine

Also known as the “Seven Sisters,” the striking cluster has long been used as an important seasonal marker and appears high in the night sky around Halloween

Smithsonian Magazine

Their fur is so soft it almost led to their extinction, but otters’ recovery has been a boon to Pacific kelp forests, a key habitat for other sealife

Smithsonian Magazine

Scientists and community members in Altadena are testing ways that California species can assist efforts to rebuild

Smithsonian Magazine

Largely outshone by fossils of horses, the earliest camels are getting another look from scientists determined to sort out the relationships and adaptations of these “absolutely bonkers” herbivores

Smithsonian Magazine

After multiple dusky sharks killed a swimmer off Israel’s coast this year, scientists investigated what might have triggered the attack in hopes of preventing similar incidents